When Kids Fly

When I look back at my life and think about pivotal moments that affected how I practice pediatric physical therapy today, I immediately think of two. The first one occurred when I was 22 years old. I had just graduated from San Diego State in Child Development and was excited to have been accepted to the University of California San Francisco for Physical Therapy. At the time of my graduation my mother was diagnosed with lymphoma. One week before I started PT school several months later, she died. It wasn’t her death by itself that changed me, but it was the doctor who took her hope away. My mom was tough and was bent on “beating” her cancer, but when one of her doctors came in and told her she was going to die she was furious, exclaiming “why would they take my hope away.” Afterwards, she just gave up, rapidly deteriorating before our eyes and dying 4 days later. I made a conscious decision at that point to never underestimate the power of “hope”, and if someone was “all in”, I was going to be there for them as well. Read more Why I never give up hope when it comes to a child’s development! ›